Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,481,584 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 36,420 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.12% of Williams Companies worth $80,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in Williams Companies by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 26,104 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,413,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,873,894 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $155,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399,161 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 20,240 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 132,421 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $58.49 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.80. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.46 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.

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